(short version available below)
Edward Ananian-Cooper is an Australian conductor based in Europe. He currently works as chorus master at the Limoges Opera in France, and as regular guest chorus master with the Danish Radio.
Edward graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki where he gained his Masters in Orchestral conducting under professors Leif Segerstam, Atso Almila and Markus Lehtinen and also completed his Masters level in Choral conducting under professor Matti Hyökki. He spent his final semester at the Zürich University of the Arts, studying orchestral conducting with professor Johannes Schlaefli.
In summer 2017, Edward won second prize in the Northern Choir Conducting Competition in Svenborg, Denmark, conducting the Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble. Subsequently he was appointed regular guest chorus master at the Danish Radio from the beginning of 2018. Since November 2018, he has been based in France where he works full-time at the Opera de Limoges.
As an orchestral conductor, he has recently given concerts with Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Turku Philharmonic, the Oulu Symphony, and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra STORIA in Finland, and the orchestra of the Limoges Opera in France. In an educational context, he has conducted the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie (Germany), Jyväskylä Sinfonia (Finland), Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Plzen Opera (Czech Republic) and the Ruse Philharmonic (Bulgaria).
As a student, he partook in masterclasses with Sir Roger Norrington, Herbert Blomstedt, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Oliver Knussen, Hannu Lintu, Osmo Vänskä and Christopher Seaman with various orchestras including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pori Sinfonietta (Finland), Auckland Philharmonia (New Zealand) and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (Australia).
Edward performs much baroque and classical opera and oratorio, and is founder and artistic director of Orpheus' Muses baroque opera collective in Finland, and the period group Q Ensemble in Berlin. With Orpheus' Muses he completed his Monteverdi cycle with director Ville Saukkonen in 2017, and the performances of Orfeo, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea all received great critical acclaim. Other notable performances include the staged Finnish premiere of Handel’s oratorio Theodora, Händel’s Messiah, Beethoven's C-major Mass, Händel’s Latin Church music, Haydn’s Creation, Nelson Mass & Timpani Mass and Mozart’s Magic Flute. His debut in Berlin was a production of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas for the new opera startup Puccini’s Toaster and the Q ensemble, which garnered rave reviews.
Edward is trained as a violinist and pianist, and has been a choral singer from the age of 8 as a boy treble at Adelaide Cathedral. His biggest education in early music has been as a visiting singer and soloist with the prestigious Arnold Schoenberg Choir in Vienna, where he has performed countless times under Erwin Ortner and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, among many others. He is also a founding member of The English Vocal Consort of Helsinki, a six-voice ensemble performing music from the Renaissance to the modern day.
Ananian-Cooper is also a strong advocate of contemporary music. He conducted the premiere of Kalevi Aho’s opera Frida y Diego at the Sibelius Academy in 2014, the premiere of Paolo Rosato’s opera Lars Cleen at Metropolia music school in 2015, and he directed a rare performance of Peter Maxwell-Davies Eight Songs for a Mad King in Helsinki in 2014. He has also sung regularly with the Helsinki Chamber Choir and the Mogens Dahl chamber choir in Copenhagen, groups specialising in the performance of contemporary choral music.
As a choral conductor, Edward has worked in Finland, Denmark, Australia, Austria, Germany and France. He has worked for periods as artistic director of Jubilate Chamber Choir and Akateeminen Laulu in Finland, and Consortium Musicum Berlin in Germany. He has recently worked with Accentus chamber choir in Paris, and is a regular guest with the Danish Radio Concert Choir in Copenhagen. He is now full time chorus master at the Limoges Opera in France.
(full version above)
Shorter biography
Edward Ananian-Cooper is an Australian conductor with a double Masters from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in orchestral and choral conducting. He studied with Leif Segerstam, Atso Almila, Markus Lehtinen and Matti Hyökki, and spent a semester at the Zürich University of the Arts with professor Johannes Schlaefli.
Edward won second prize in the Northern Choir Conducting Competition in Denmark in 2017, and has subsequently been regular guest chorusmaster with the Danish Radio Concert Choir. He lives in France, where he works full-time as chorus master at the Opera de Limoges.
As an orchestral conductor, he has recently worked with Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Turku Philharmonic, the Oulu Symphony and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra STORIA among others, and has also performed in an educational context with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie (Germany), Jyväskylä Sinfonia (Finland), Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Plzen Opera (Czech Republic) and the Ruse Philharmonic (Bulgaria). He recently made his French début with the orchestra of the Limoges Opera.
Ananian-Cooper is in demand as an opera and oratorio conductor and recent staged performances include Kalevi Aho’s Frida y Diego (premiere), Paolo Rosato’s Lars Cleen (premiere), a Monteverdi trilogy (Orfeo, Ulisse & Poppea), Händel’s Theodora, Mozart’s Magic Flute and his 2016 debut in Berlin with Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas. In concert, Edward has directed Händel’s Messiah, Haydn's Creation and Nelson Mass, Beethoven's C major Mass and Théodore Dubois' Seven Last Words among many other oratorios. He is artistic director of Orpheus' Muses baroque opera collective in Helsinki, and the period group Q-Ensemble in Germany.
As choral conductor, Edward has worked for periods as artistic director of Jubilate Chamber Choir and Akateeminen Laulu in Finland, as well as Consortium Musicum Berlin in Germany, and has recently worked with Accentus chamber choir in Paris. He is also a professional choral singer, working with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir in Vienna, the Mogens Dahl chamber choir in Copenhagen, the Helsinki Chamber Choir and the English Vocal Consort of Helsinki.